After taking some time out from this site to write the New Zealand Backpacking Unwrapped guide book I’m happy to say that as of next week I’ll be hitting the road again on a South Island road trip.
On 14th December I’ll be heading on the Bluebridge ferry to the South Island for up to three months, depending how long the money lasts. When I first backpacked here I bought a car and hooned around both the North and South Islands for three months, but it really was a whistle stop tour. I saw most of the things I wanted, but I never necessarily managed to experience them in the way I wanted.
This time I’ll be travelling with a partner and doing more of an extended ‘kiwi road trip’. Instead of a Subaru I’ve got a converted HiAce van of my own, with bikes, bbq, boogie boards, climbing and fishing gear on board. It should be an adventure packed trip with lots of activities thrown in.
The last time I did quite a bit of diving at the Poor Knights, visited most of the main highlights, did some climbing, and made an attempt at the peak of Mount Aspiring. Despite not getting to the summit I decided to beat it and went skydiving at Wanaka instead.
On this trip I’m hoping to experience places at a bit of a slower pace and stick around for a few days at most places. I’m looking forward to spending some time in the Marlborough Sounds, doing some mountain biking, more climbing and will hopefully be able to catch some fish. If I managed to get some catches, it will be more than I’ve managed on my recent Wellington outings – I’m getting very experienced at snagging lines and cutting my gear off.
If you run an activity company or tour you’d like us to visit, please drop me a note via the contact page and we’ll get in touch.
If you’d like to keep up with the trip, follow the Road Trip 2010-11 Category from the menu or right sidebar.
See you on the road!
Sounds like fun! Across the ditch in OZ, I plan to do something similar in 2011!!
Happy travels!!